Overview
- On May 17 the World Health Organization declared the Ebola event in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern after labs confirmed the outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo virus.
- WHO and national health agencies report hundreds of confirmed or suspected infections with suspected deaths in the low hundreds and warn that those counts are likely underestimates because testing and detection are constrained.
- WHO Director‑General Tedros said ongoing clashes and attacks on health facilities in eastern DRC are driving displacement, severing containment corridors, and making contact tracing nearly impossible.
- Governments worldwide have responded with enhanced airport screening, mandatory quarantines and entry bans for travellers from DRC, Uganda and South Sudan, and the U.S. is planning an overseas quarantine facility in Kenya that has provoked local and expert criticism.
- India briefly isolated a traveller from Uganda who tested negative for Ebola and continues to scale airport surveillance, while public health teams and international partners accelerate diagnostics and trials because Bundibugyo is rare and existing Zaire‑targeted vaccines and therapies do not protect against it.